I need legal advise (civil matter)

[Fafnir]

I think the best advice to take is instead of spending so much time worrying about this guy, double your efforts trying to rent the place out.  Who knows, you may get someone in there by June 15th...or at least July 1st.

I agree (and it's what the court is going to require anyway).  Also, of course, drop the guy as a "friend".

Sad that I think of that action in Facebook terms first, rather than real life. Kind of like when I played WoW everday and starting thinking "lol" instead of laughing....

I think you'd be better off dropping it and your "friend. Unless you really, really need the money. You said you'd settle at a $500.00 hit, so I don't think that is the case.

[JSD]

The ad was back up the second after he called me to tell me he was raw dawging me...

Anyway, I have two appointments lined up already for tonight and tomorrow. The majority of renters looking to move would have already had a place if they were aiming for July 1st as they were living out there last month being June. Therefore, August 1st is the most realistic time to get someone in.

He cost me time and money.

Also, I applied for Judge Judy already  

[Roy Hobbs]

Great idea, but agency law probably prevents that from being a defense here.  If she wrote the check, and her "agent" (I'm not going to go into how the law defines an agent, just trust me that he can be considered her agent here) made the agreement to rent the place, you probably have an enforcible oral contract.  Enforcible on them both.  So if you go to small claims court, sue them both.  Don't forget about promissory estopple (worth looking up).

I agree with suing them both.  Depending upon what the check says, though, they could always argue that he wasn't acting as her agent (which is why I asked who the check was made out to, etc.)  It's probably not a hugely strong defense (and probably requires him to admit to check fraud under oath), but it depends upon what people would say under oath.  (Somebody who will screw a "friend" over will no doubt lie in court.)  The real problem, though, is the statute of frauds.

The remedy will be in equity.  Since small claims courts have equitable jurisdiction, he can still sue there.  However, it's not as simple as saying "he violated our oral lease".  It's easy to envision a situation where there's no recovery at all, just as it's easy to envision a situation where Jsaad recovers the entire month's rent.

[JSD]

I think the best advice to take is instead of spending so much time worrying about this guy, double your efforts trying to rent the place out.  Who knows, you may get someone in there by June 15th...or at least July 1st.

I agree (and it's what the court is going to require anyway).  Also, of course, drop the guy as a "friend".

Sad that I think of that action in Facebook terms first, rather than real life. Kind of like when I played WoW everday and starting thinking "lol" instead of laughing....

I think you'd be better off dropping it and your "friend. Unless you really, really need the money. You said you'd settle at a $500.00 hit, so I don't think that is the case.

haha, that's funny tp

[BCelts]

Great idea, but agency law probably prevents that from being a defense here.  If she wrote the check, and her "agent" (I'm not going to go into how the law defines an agent, just trust me that he can be considered her agent here) made the agreement to rent the place, you probably have an enforcible oral contract.  Enforcible on them both.  So if you go to small claims court, sue them both.  Don't forget about promissory estopple (worth looking up).

I agree with suing them both.  Depending upon what the check says, though, they could always argue that he wasn't acting as her agent (which is why I asked who the check was made out to, etc.)  It's probably not a hugely strong defense (and probably requires him to admit to check fraud under oath), but it depends upon what people would say under oath.  (Somebody who will screw a "friend" over will no doubt lie in court.)  The real problem, though, is the statute of frauds.

The remedy will be in equity.  Since small claims courts have equitable jurisdiction, he can still sue there.  However, it's not as simple as saying "he violated our oral lease".  It's easy to envision a situation where there's no recovery at all, just as it's easy to envision a situation where Jsaad recovers the entire month's rent.

The statute of frauds is a problem.  One can always argue that the check is the writing, but we all can see tehe weakness in that argument alone.  Of course, there are also the email and text exchanges that some Courts will consider to satisfy the statute but, in the end, I agree.  There is a significant chance of no money. 

[dark_lord]

jsaad, best of luck to you.  i cant speak of the legalities of your situation, but hobbs can cover that.

i can give a couple suggestions for the future:

- do business professionally, which includes have everything in writing.

- dont do business with "friends".  but if you do, you must be able to treat them as tenants as well.  its easier for a "friend" to attempt to have u let things "slide", do things off the record, take advantage of you, etc

- most importantly.....cover your butt!

[JSD]

Thanks for everyone's input on this topic. I love CB because people here are willing to brainstorm and figure out other problems that don't necessarily take place on the basketball court.

Anyway, so to give a quick update...

I received a call from the producers at the Judge Judy show. They interviewed me and requested Steve's number to get his side of the story. They called me back and said "We appreciate you looking towards us to help resolve your situation but unfortunately we already have too many tenant/landlord disputes (I.E your case isn't compelling enough for Hollywood.) and we will not be taking this case" Ugh... there goes the free vacation.

The more I thought about it the more I reminded myself how imperfect I was and that like my friend I have strengths and weaknesses too. I called Steve this morning and after talking the situation out we agreed to put this in the past and move forward as friends. He said he feels really bad about what he did and he will help me out with future house projects (barter style) to "try and make things right"

So after going through a range emotions and exploring different legal options I've decided to look in mirror for blame. I will chalk it up as a life lesson and know going forward as a landlord that I will need to set better expectations and "cover all the bases" no matter what the situation or who the tenant is. I will no longer be trying to pursue this case and/or sue.

My wife tells me I'm too [dang] forgiving and that I let things go way too easily. After she said that we both agreed it's one of biggest strengths.

[the_Bird]

Well, good.

Can you get his promise to barter some labor for you in writing, though? 

[Chris]

Thanks for everyone's input on this topic. I love CB because people here are willing to brainstorm and figure out other problems that don't necessarily take place on the basketball court.

Anyway, so to give a quick update...

I received a call from the producers at the Judge Judy show. They interviewed me and requested Steve's number to get his side of the story. They called me back and said "We appreciate you looking towards us to help resolve your situation but unfortunately we already have too many tenant/landlord disputes (I.E your case isn't compelling enough for Hollywood.) and we will not be taking this case" Ugh... there goes the free vacation.

The more I thought about it the more I reminded myself how imperfect I was and that like my friend I have strengths and weaknesses too. I called Steve this morning and after talking the situation out we agreed to put this in the past and move forward as friends. He said he feels really bad about what he did and he will help me out with future house projects (barter style) to "try and make things right"

So after going through a range emotions and exploring different legal options I've decided to look in mirror for blame. I will chalk it up as a life lesson and know going forward as a landlord that I will need to set better expectations and "cover all the bases" no matter what the situation or who the tenant is. I will no longer be trying to pursue this case and/or sue.

My wife tells me I'm too [dang] forgiving and that I let things go way too easily. After she said that we both agreed it's one of biggest strengths.

I know a lot of people will disagree with this, but I think if the money is not going to put you in the poor house, you handled this tough situation in the best way you could.  

I am sure he did not purposely try to screw you over, but sometimes life and circumstances get in the way of friendship and doing the right thing.  Its great that you can be the bigger man, and move on from this.  

Now, if he doesn't make sure you have a beer and your hands, and first choice of seats every time you come over to watch the game at wherever his new place is, well then he is just a jerk, but no matter what, you should be able to look back at this and feel good that you dealt with a terrible situation in a way that not many people would have the strength to do.

[Roy Hobbs]

I'm glad it worked out in a way you're happy with.  Lawsuits -- even the ones in small claims -- are stressful.

That being said, my unsolicited advice is to not rely on this guy too much in the future.

[Hoyo de Monterrey]

I received a call from the producers at the Judge Judy show. They interviewed me and requested Steve's number to get his side of the story. They called me back and said "We appreciate you looking towards us to help resolve your situation but unfortunately we already have too many tenant/landlord disputes (I.E your case isn't compelling enough for Hollywood.) and we will not be taking this case" Ugh... there goes the free vacation.

That's too bad... If you got on the show, you should have brought CB moral support. Imagine watching late afternoon television one day and seeing these two guys talking about a rent problem, and you see four guys decked out in Celtics gear in the background, cheering every time one guy talked and booing every time the other did.

"Would the gentleman with the Sign Antoine Now T-shirt kindly leave the room? And bring the guy in the Will Solomon jersey with him?"

[JSD]

That being said, my unsolicited advice is to not rely on this guy too much in the future.

If I need help moving, building or fighting (a little old for the fighting but when we were younger anyway) he's one of the first people if not the first person there. He'll have you on your ass laughing for a good portion of a night out too. That said, I'll never do business with him again.

[JSD]

I received a call from the producers at the Judge Judy show. They interviewed me and requested Steve's number to get his side of the story. They called me back and said "We appreciate you looking towards us to help resolve your situation but unfortunately we already have too many tenant/landlord disputes (I.E your case isn't compelling enough for Hollywood.) and we will not be taking this case" Ugh... there goes the free vacation.

That's too bad... If you got on the show, you should have brought CB moral support. Imagine watching late afternoon television one day and seeing these two guys talking about a rent problem, and you see four guys decked out in Celtics gear in the background, cheering every time one guy talked and booing every time the other did.

"Would the gentleman with the Sign Antoine Now T-shirt kindly leave the room? And bring the guy in the Will Solomon jersey with him?"

Haha, it would be taking place in Laker country too (Hollywood)

[LarBrd33]

I've been on both ends of this.  That's the problem when there is no writing. 

My buddy got a divorce and needed someone to rent the extra room.  Initially I had agreed to pay $400 + half of all the utilities/cable/etc.   On the day I was set to move in we verbally agreed that I would just pay him a flat amount of $650 a month including everything.  I considered it a little high for a small room... he probably considered it a little low considering what he was paying for the Condo.   But regardless, that arrangement moved along smoothly for about a year. 

Then his brother got out of the army and needed a place to stay.  He started crashing on our couch.   That same month his friend got back from a Eurotrip and also needed a place to crash... he started sleeping on the other couch.   My friend started charging them both $150 each to rent the couches.   Unfortunately my rent stayed the same... $650.   

I wasn't very happy with this.

My perspective: I went from paying $650 to share a 2 bedroom condo with 1 person to paying $650 to share a 2 bedroom condo with 3 people + his girlfriend that was constantly there.

Their perspective:  I was renting the room for $650 so the rest of the living situation was irrelevant.

I suddenly had to share a bathroom with two other guys, the condo was constantly a mess... they would both stay up drinking all night playing WoW in the livingroom and watching the big screen TV.  Then they would sleep all day so by the time I got back from work at 5:00pm they were still sleeping and would get angry at me if I wanted to turn on the TV and watch the Celtics.  "You have a TV in your room!  Watch it in there!"...    This lasted for a couple months until the electricity bill came...

Turns out, when you have two guys sitting on two desktop computers playing WoW and watching a 65 inch TV all night, plus doubling the dishes, laundry, etc... the electricity bill has a tendency to spike.  The bill was for $500... my roommate (the original guy) demanded that we all chip in.   I basically told him, "no way.  You're crazy.  I agreed to pay you $650 flat per month... I'm not going to get punished for you renting out the couches".   

He thought he was right... I thought I was right.  He basically said, "pay up or leave" and eventually I got so angry with the situation that I decided to respond by refusing to pay him any rent at all.  He threatened to call the police and have me forcefully removed.  I responded by calling the police and verifying that he would actually have to give me a written notice and at least a month to leave.    To sum up, I ended up staying there for an extra month for free... and basically took $650 from him.   I rationalized it as "back pay" for the 3 months I had to live with those slobs.  Bottom line is that if nothing is in writing, you usually can't do anything about it...

We're back to being good friends again.  As mentioned before... friends and business (or friends living together) is typically a really bad idea.

[bdm860]

Anyway, so to give a quick update...

I received a call from the producers at the Judge Judy show. They interviewed me and requested Steve's number to get his side of the story. They called me back and said "We appreciate you looking towards us to help resolve your situation but unfortunately we already have too many tenant/landlord disputes (I.E your case isn't compelling enough for Hollywood.) and we will not be taking this case" Ugh... there goes the free vacation.

Wow, Judge Judy rocks.  I'm surprised they called you back so quick (actually I'm surprised that you actually explored that avenue, that's a TP right there).  That's real cool on their part though to interview you and your friend and call you back within a day or two to let you know.  I kind of figured that would be something that would take a few weeks to actually get in contact with you, then a few more weeks after that for them to let you know if they were or weren't going to do your case.  That's a TP for Judge Judy too!